Good ones from 220 euros
These are the smartphones with the best cameras
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If a smartphone's cameras are a particularly important attribute, you often pay more than 1000 euros for the best devices. You can get a very good alternative for around 600 euros, but you don't even have to pay 250 euros for the cheapest cell phone with good snapshots.
According to a survey by the Bitkom industry association, basic characteristics such as size, display quality, robustness, endurance and long-term software support are most important to users when purchasing a smartphone. However, 80 percent also cited the quality of the camera equipment as a decisive criterion.
The selection here has become significantly larger in recent years, and even cheaper smartphones now often take good photos and videos. You still have to spend larger sums for the best camera smartphones, but no longer necessarily over 1000 euros, as tests by Stiftung Warentest, DXOMARK, ntv.de and specialist magazines show. Devices with good snapshots are even available for less than 300 euros.
The best of the best
Although Huawei hardly has any market share in Germany and worldwide since it is no longer allowed to use Google services, no other manufacturer can still hold a candle to them when it comes to cameras. At least that's how the French benchmark professionals from DXOMARK see it Huawei Pura 70 Ultra with a total of 163 points, better than any other smartphone we tested.
The Chinese car, which costs around 1200 euros, achieved the best mark in the photos from the main camera, the artificial depth of field (bokeh) and the zoom performance. Other devices can only do videos and display previews better.
Apple's current flagship iPhone 16 Pro Max (from 1450 euros) has to be content with the tin medal at DXOMARK, because the devices from two other manufacturers are one point ahead. At least Apple can celebrate two partial victories, because its flagship is number 1 in videos and shows on the screen almost exactly what a photo or video will look like.
At Stiftung Warentest, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is also number 1 overall; the testers gave its cameras a grade of 1.3. All snaps on the back proved to be very good for photos and videos in all situations. Only the front camera was only rated good. It was just as strong iPhone 16 Pro (1200 euros), which has the same equipment.
But Apple's top duo has to share the test victory in this category, because that Xiaomi 14 Ultra (1200 euros) proved to be a “camera giant” at Stiftung Warentest, as was the case with ntv.de. And its only “weakness” is also a merely good selfie camera.
Very strong pursuers
At DXOMARK, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (1080 euros) is number 2 with 158 points, meaning it was able to leave the iPhone 16 Pro behind. Although it is not number 1 in any category, it performed consistently well to very well in all tests. The smaller one Pixel 9 Pro (1060 euros) has the same cameras.
At Stiftung Warentest, the Pixel 9 Pro duo takes third place with a camera rating of 1.4. The minimal differences cannot be seen in the individual grades; Google's cars were also consistently rated very well (+/++), with the exception of a “only” good front camera.
The same applies to this Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (1080 euros), which, like the Pixel 9 Pro, achieved a camera rating of 1.4 in product tests. In DXOMARK, however, the South Korean top smartphone only occupies 28th place with a total of 144 points. The device doesn't have any glaring weaknesses, but it can hardly keep up with the best in any category.
Price-performance winner
This is an “insider tip” for bargain hunters Google Pixel 8 Prowhich can currently be found online for around 600 euros. At Stiftung Warentest it took fourth place with a camera rating of 1.5, although there was no difference in the individual grades to the test winners.
In DXOMARK, Google's 2023 flagship ranks in a good twelfth place with 153 points. For the trade magazine “Connect” it is still just about the best camera smartphone, and for “Computerbild” it is number 2.
You can get the simple one for around 100 euros less Google Pixel 8. It lacks the Pro's telephoto camera, but unlike its predecessors it can also record high-quality macros. Stiftung Warentest gave the smartphone's camera performance an overall grade of 1.8. At DXOMARK, the Pixel 8 ranks 18th, just ahead of the iPhone 16.
This is a price-performance star Samsung Galaxy A35, which online retailers currently offer from around 220 euros. Not only does it have cameras that were rated just good (2.5) by Warentest, but it also achieved a strong quality rating of 2.2 with consistently good ratings in all other categories. The argument against the cheap smartphone is that its images are only satisfactory in low light.
